Back to reality. There are countries and there are states, empires and territories. England, Scotland and Wales are countries BUT not independent. Northern Ireland is way too difficult to discuss on this forum.. So England is a country that was formed by the merger of various "kingdoms" as are Wales and Scotland. They were each united upon themselves by marriage and war. Then it became very interesting !! The Normans decided they had primogeniture and Harold was slain. Fast forward to the Tudor period. In fact they were the Twdors (sp). The Welsh bastards. Henry VII had a Welsh accent. Then we move on to the Stuarts who were Scottish. And then on to the Germans. Where was I? If the major wars and revolutions had not occurred we would now have a wonderful Euro governed by the same family, all speaking the same language.
So, England is a country. Great Britain is an island consisting of three countries. The United Kingdom is a state consisting of four countries.
I will now stand back and try to stay quiet.
Cymru am Byth